Chapter 8 – Let’s Go Out Together~
“Beep beep beep—”
At 5:30 in the morning, Zhou Qi’s alarm clock went off right on time.
He opened his eyes the moment the alarm sounded. After turning it off, the previously sleeping Tang Yu’an let out a soft hum and rolled over to face him.
The boy’s eyes barely opened his eyes as he looked at Zhou Qi and mumbled, “Brother Qi, morning…”
“Morning,” Zhou Qi replied.
He ruffled Tang Yu’an’s messy hair and touched his forehead, confirming that his fever had subsided. A hint of a smile appeared in his eyes.
“You can sleep a bit longer,” he said while getting up and putting on his clothes.
“No, I won’t.”
Tang Yu’an groggily sat up.
He usually slept until seven o’clock and had never gotten up this early, but things were different now.
They had traveled to a perilous apocalyptic world and could no longer live as leisurely as before.
Moreover, Tang Yu’an was worried that Zhou Qi would sneak out while he slept to clear dangerous creatures or find customers to trade with.
Knowing Zhou Qi as well as he did, he was certain Zhou Qi would do something like that.
“How are your injuries?” he asked, suddenly remembering.
He pulled Zhou Qi’s hand over to inspect it.
Because it was wrapped in bandages, he couldn’t see much, but the bruises on Zhou Qi’s cheeks had disappeared.
He healed so well!
Feeling happy, Tang Yu’an was about to smile when he noticed a red glimmer in Zhou Qi’s pure black eyes.
He was startled, and when he looked carefully, the red glimmer had vanished, as if it had just been his imagination.
Tang Yu’an blinked.
“What’s wrong?” Zhou Qi asked, unaware of his reaction.
Hesitating, Tang Yu’an shook his head.
Maybe… he had just seen it wrong? How could Brother Qi’s eyes change color?
“Well, let’s get up then.”
“Mm-hmm, okay.”
Zhou Qi tidied up the bed and then went downstairs with Tang Yu’an to wash up and do morning exercises.
Seeing them moving about, Wang Cai, who had been awakened, also ran out from the corner, wagging his tail and circling around their feet, meowing happily.
Although he looked like a cat, he was actually a cheerful little dog.
Unable to resist, Tang Yu’an squatted down to play with him, while Zhou Qi went to the kitchen to make breakfast after their exercises.
“Meow meow—meow meow—”
Wang Cai stuck out his tongue and wagged his tail, enthusiastically rubbing his head against Tang Yu’an’s palm.
“Are you hungry?”
As he spoke, Tang Yu’an got up to fetch some dried fish to feed him.
Since it wasn’t yet eight o’clock, feeding him wouldn’t earn any credits, but seeing the little orange cat’s happy expression, Tang Yu’an still felt cheerful.
In the kitchen, Zhou Qi unwrapped the bandages on his hands. Not only had the wounds completely healed, but not even a scar remained.
He frowned slightly and rewrapped the bandages.
He still didn’t know what had entered his body, but since he wasn’t experiencing any discomfort, there wasn’t much he could do for now.
Setting aside his worries, he began preparing breakfast.
“An An, breakfast is ready.”
“Coming, coming!”
Hearing Zhou Qi’s call, Tang Yu’an quickly went to wash his hands, and Wang Cai trotted along behind him.
Afterward, the two sat down to eat breakfast together.
“Are we going to find Granny Guo today?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“Yes,” Zhou Qi nodded.
Although each daily task only awarded two credits, completing all of them would grant them a chance to spin the lucky wheel.
Yesterday’s experience had already shown that the rewards from the lucky wheel were extremely important to them. From this perspective, the task of eliminating dangerous creatures was even more enticing.
However, in terms of difficulty, the daily tasks were undoubtedly safer.
Listening to his analysis, Tang Yu’an smiled and added, “And now we have the map. We can see where the customers are and don’t have to wander around like headless chickens.”
Moreover, the map showed the red dots representing dangerous creatures.
They could avoid danger in advance, significantly increasing their safety. They no longer had to be as anxious as before, nor would they encounter dangerous situations like yesterday.
Hearing Tang Yu’an’s last remark, Zhou Qi frowned slightly and didn’t respond immediately.
The map couldn’t be shared with him, which meant that if they wanted to use it, An An would have to accompany him…
Tang Yu’an looked at him.
Having grown up together, how could he not understand Zhou Qi? Almost as soon as Zhou Qi furrowed his brow, Tang Yu’an knew what he was thinking.
“Don’t even think about leaving me behind at the shop!”
He put down his chopsticks and said angrily, “My illness is already cured, and only I can use the map now…”
“You have to take me with you, or I won’t let you go!”
Seeing him throw a tantrum, Zhou Qi felt a bit helpless. After a moment of staring at each other, he conceded.
“Alright, I understand.”
He reached out to pat Tang Yu’an’s head, soothing him. “Let’s finish eating and clean up. After eight o’clock, we’ll head out together.”
“Hmph, that’s more like it.”
Having his feathers smoothed, Tang Yu’an’s anger dissipated. He couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Zhou Qi and tugged at his sleeve.
“Brother Qi, I wasn’t trying to throw a tantrum just now. I just…”
“I understand.”
Zhou Qi nodded. “You’re right; we should advance and retreat together.”
Hearing this, Tang Yu’an finally smiled happily. “Mm-hmm.”
Seeing his adorable smile, Zhou Qi couldn’t help but curl his lips as well, his hand once again ruffling the boy’s hair.
Soon, they finished breakfast. Zhou Qi went to clean up, and Tang Yu’an prepared to organize the goods.
However, before sorting the goods, he opened today’s daily tasks for a glance, only to see—
[Daily Tasks (Refreshes daily at 00:00)]
- Complete a transaction (0/1)
- Restock at the wholesale market (0/10)
- Attract a new customer (0/1)
- Clean the shop (0/1)
- Complete a transaction and earn a profit (0/1)
Tang Yu’an was stunned and quickly shared the daily tasks with Zhou Qi.
“Brother Qi, look! The daily tasks have changed!”
Task 3 had changed from organizing goods using the inventory function to attracting a new customer!
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qi couldn’t help but frown. “It seems that the daily tasks aren’t fixed.”
Perhaps as An An continued to level up, the tasks would become more challenging. If the new daily task required attracting a new customer every day, that would be troublesome.
It was already difficult for them to encounter people, let alone attract a new customer every day.
But Tang Yu’an remained optimistic. “It’s okay. We can see where new customers are on the map.”
Zhou Qi nodded. “We should still go find that granny from yesterday and meet new people through her.”
That way, their safety could be somewhat guaranteed, and the likelihood of successful transactions would increase.
“Okay!”
Naturally, Tang Yu’an had no objections.
So, Zhou Qi continued cleaning, and Tang Yu’an helped out. When they were almost done, they began preparing the items they would bring today.
Tang Yu’an had five slots in his portable warehouse, and they weren’t all full yet.
Slot 1 was shared between them, holding items they might need at any time. The remaining slots could be used to store supplies.
There were still several boxes of bottled water and drinks in the shop, which he placed into slot 5 to prevent situations where they might be unable to return for a long time and have nothing to drink.
They also packed dry foods like biscuits, and Tang Yu’an brought a bottle of gasoline in case they needed to start a fire.
Since they had gasoline, they naturally needed a lighter, as well as stainless steel bowls, plates, spoons, chopsticks, pots for cooking and boiling water, and they also brought along a dagger and scissors.
The remaining space was filled with perishable fruits, vegetables, meat, and eggs—items placed in the portable warehouse would remain in the state they were when stored, even better than a refrigerator.
Besides these, they also needed to bring medicines, especially hemostatic medications and bandages.
Before they knew it, it was past eight o’clock. Seeing that Tang Yu’an was still selecting items, Zhou Qi fed Wang Cai some dried fish.
“Meow—”
[“Wang Cai” is full. After rummaging around, it has found 35 credits for you.]
[Credits +35, Current Credit Balance: 37]
Seeing the system message, Tang Yu’an glanced at the little orange cat happily eating dried fish on the floor.
Since Brother Qi fed it this time, did it not increase loyalty? He noted this doubt and planned to experiment tomorrow.
“Brother Qi, I’m ready.” Tang Yu’an came over to Zhou Qi, full of energy.
“Alright.”
Zhou Qi stood up and reached out to ruffle his hair. “Let’s go then.”
“What should we bring to trade with Granny Guo today?” Tang Yu’an asked.
Although Granny Guo didn’t count as a new customer, completing a transaction with an old customer would still earn them experience points and credits.
As for the people living with her, they’d have to see when they got there.
Zhou Qi thought for a moment and said, “Let’s bring some brown rice.”
“Oh, okay.”
So, Tang Yu’an used the newly acquired credits to exchange for 500 grams of brown rice and, following Zhou Qi’s advice, took out the full 500 grams.
Zhou Qi then took out the sealing bags they had used to pack salt yesterday and carefully counted twenty grains into one.
Tang Yu’an looked at him, puzzled.
Five hundred grams of brown rice would only feed the two of them for a day. Granny Guo might be alone, and in this apocalyptic world, it might last her several days.
But why was Brother Qi counting out grains and packing them?
“These are high-quality brown rice seeds that can be used for planting,” Zhou Qi explained. “That granny has the ability to accelerate plant growth in a short time. She might be interested in these seeds.”
The rice in the grocery store was polished, and although they could use it for trading, taking out such a large amount of refined rice might raise suspicions. Moreover…
Seeing Granny Guo reminded Zhou Qi of his late grandmother.
If it hadn’t been for her approaching him yesterday, trusting him, and trading with him, An An wouldn’t have leveled up, nor would they have received the subsequent series of rewards.
If that had been the case, he might have been killed and eaten by Wang Cai.
So by giving her high-quality grain seeds like brown rice, he wanted to repay her, allowing that small, thin granny to eat better—if her only food source was those fruits, she might not be getting enough to eat and could easily become malnourished.
“But in doing so, we won’t be able to trade grain with her in the future,” Zhou Qi said.
If that granny’s ability was indeed accelerating plant growth, then once she had these high-quality seeds, she could obtain an endless supply of brown rice.
“It doesn’t matter,” Tang Yu’an said with a smile. “If grain doesn’t work, there’s always salt, and salt is consumable.”
“When she has more rice, we can trade salt for her brown rice. As long as one gram of salt can exchange for more than ten grams of brown rice, we’ll profit!”
After all, one credit equals ten grams of salt equals one hundred grams of brown rice.
And Granny Guo has the ability to make plants grow quickly. After some time, she’ll surely have surplus rice to trade for salt.
“By then, we’ll not only earn credits from profits but also get brown rice to eat ourselves or continue trading with others.”
Tang Yu’an said with a smile, “Isn’t that killing three birds with one stone?”
Zhou Qi’s brow relaxed. He patted Tang Yu’an’s head approvingly. “You’re right; it’s a win-win situation.”
Tang Yu’an grinned and picked up a sealing bag to help pack the brown rice.
They packed five small bags, totaling one hundred grains of brown rice—since Tang Yu’an could only gain experience points and credits from the first three successful transactions with each customer per day, there was no need to pack too much.
The remaining brown rice was placed into a larger sealing bag and stored in the portable warehouse.
Besides the brown rice, Tang Yu’an went to the cabinet and took out a few pieces of rock sugar. After smashing them with a hammer, he stored them in the portable warehouse.
No one would refuse sweets, right?
Anyway, now that he could exchange for glucose in the store, he wouldn’t lack sugar in the future.
Of course, to avoid arousing envy, he couldn’t take out a large piece at once, so he had to break it up.
Feeling that they hadn’t missed anything, Tang Yu’an put on his backpack as a disguise and bid farewell to Wang Cai: “We’re heading out. Take good care of the house.”
“Meow—”
Wang Cai wagged his tail, reluctantly wanting to follow, but after a few steps, he was blocked by the transparent barrier.
In the pet interface, Tang Yu’an set him to “Stay,” so he couldn’t leave the grocery store’s range and had to stay home obediently.
The little orange cat jumped onto the roof, and even after Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi disappeared from sight, he remained perched there, watching from afar…
*
This was Tang Yu’an’s first time going out with Zhou Qi.
Yesterday, in his rush to rescue Zhou Qi, he had run all the way without paying attention to his surroundings. On the way back, still shaken, he hadn’t been in the mood to observe.
Now, looking at the desolate scenery around him, he didn’t dare to speak much, staying close to Zhou Qi’s side.
In front of him, only he could see the floating map in the air, adjusted to a suitable size, providing real-time general terrain and the movements of dangerous creatures.
Compared to last night’s activity, the red dots representing dangerous creatures had noticeably quieted down after daylight, with only one or two moving within a small range.
Their path to Granny Guo’s residence was temporarily safe.
Zhou Qi also led Tang Yu’an carefully, avoiding the place where he had stepped on the nameless corpse before.
They walked for over an hour before reaching the spot where Zhou Qi had met Granny Guo yesterday. However, according to the map, they were still only halfway to her home.
At Zhou Qi’s suggestion, they sat on a stone by the roadside to rest.
“It’s so far…” Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but say while drinking water.
“Regretting coming out?” Zhou Qi chuckled.
“Not at all!”
Tang Yu’an shook his head in denial, then said, “I just think it’s so far; it won’t be convenient for future trading.”
Zhou Qi nodded. That was true.
Even with the map, whether they went out to trade or customers wanted to come to the grocery store, they’d have to spend a lot of time on the road and might encounter mutant creatures.
“At least the grocery store’s safety can be guaranteed,” he said.
Human hearts are unpredictable; Zhou Qi still believed it was best not to reveal the grocery store’s location for now.
“Mm-hmm.”
Tang Yu’an agreed with this viewpoint.
After resting and drinking water for a while, they set off again. The paths ahead were ones Zhou Qi hadn’t taken before, but with the map’s guidance, they saved time on exploration.
They trekked onward and finally reached a new set of ruins around ten o’clock.
Tang Yu’an zoomed the map to its maximum; Granny Guo was less than ten meters away.
Since last night, the pale golden dot representing Granny Guo hadn’t moved, and the green dot representing a new customer almost overlapped with hers.
In other words, Granny Guo hadn’t left home since morning.
Tang Yu’an surveyed the broken walls and ruins around them. This must have been a residential area before, with several collapsed apartment buildings, leaving behind hollow shells of reinforced concrete.
He didn’t know how many years it had been desolate. Weeds grew everywhere, and moss covered the stones.
He and Zhou Qi searched around but didn’t see many signs of human habitation. Without the map’s guidance, it would have been hard to discover that people lived amidst these piles of rubble.
They climbed over stones, struggling to ascend.
Finally, Zhou Qi grabbed an exposed steel bar and, using it for leverage, climbed up to the top of the collapsed building. Suddenly sensing something, he looked up alertly.
At the same time, Tang Yu’an’s voice sounded behind him: “Brother Qi…”
Zhou Qi had no time to listen to what Tang Yu’an was saying.
In front of him appeared the thin, backlit figure of Granny Guo.
She raised a sickle high and swung it down at him!
A metallic flash streaked by.
At this critical moment, a dark red glint appeared in Zhou Qi’s jet-black eyes. He sidestepped to the left with incredible speed—
Zhou Qi dodged Granny Guo’s attack and reached out to firmly grasp her wrist!
this lady better chill…